JumpHog

My busiest day was 23 tandem videos. I also packed for about half of those jumps.

They finished shooting the series a couple of months ago.

Yep. Ethan is a regular at X-Keys and Caroline has made a couple of jumps. I just got back from the series "opener" that NBC hosted. One of the other couples from the show was also their with their friends. It was pretty odd, as at the end of the show there were two couples left, and only one would be voted back for next week. The couples were Ethan and Caroline and the other couple at the party. It was a very tense couple of minutes, until they announced that Ethan and Caroline would be back next week, and the other couple would be going home. Stay tuned for future episodes.

I have been working on creating a Windows Media File of the video to upload, but am currently having a lot of problems with the software I'm using. After a few hours of rendering, it keeps coming out corrupted. I am trying different settings, but each time I have to do another 3 hour render. I will run it again tonight, and hope to have it uploaded by tomorrow. I also recorded the interview that was on CNN and will upload that as well as soon as I get this software working. Thanks.

Art, I had a fantastic time videoing you on your first jump! It was a very inspiring event, and something that I will carry with me for a very long time. I hope to see you at the dropzone again soon. The bit on CNN was great! Thanks again to your sister for setting it up. I will be uploading the entire video to www.skydivingmovies.com tomorrow. Thanks again for everything. See you soon. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen Skydive Cross Keys

Scott, I had a great time shooting the video on that jump. It was a very memorable jump that I will carry with me for a long time. It just goes to show you that anyone can participate in this sport. I hope to see Jaime out at the DZ again soon. Blue Skies. -Paul

I swear that someone raised the pond 1 foot on me! Whoever said that "Murphy" is a skydiver, nailed it right on the head. I've swooped that pond hundreds of times before and never gotten wet, but the one time I decide to do it with all of my camera gear on, I end up cartwheeling across the water. Nonetheless, all of my camera gear appears to still be working, and my container should be dry by tomorrow. Live and learn!

Seeing as the Xaos-27 isn't included in the gear review section, I wanted to get everyone's opinion on this canopy. How are the openings, flight, glide, riser pressure, and landings? What are you loading them at. I have jumped an FX, VX, Xaos-21, and am currently jumping a Velocity at 2.1. I am ordering a demo Xaos-27, but would like to hear other people's opinions on this canopy before I get it.

I have to ask, but why did you take the time to collapse and stow your slider while you were in the middle of a high-speed emergency. I'm glad it worked out okay, but you say that your were SSS by 1450 feet, and had it taken another 100 feet, you would have chopped it. Taking the time to stow your slider, while your canopy is diving at the ground at a high rate of speed is a very foolish waste of precious time.

That would be my old Purple and Pink Cobalt 105. I didn't much care for the pink, so I swapped it out for a Purple and Yellow one (to match my other Cobalt).

I have known Jim and Jen for some time now. I learned to skydive at Skydive Kansas, and also worked there for a couple of seasons. They are two very saftey-orientated DZO's. While I think that some of there policies might be a bit excessive, it is their DZ, and they may run it any way they like. The news of their wingloading restrictions was news to me. While I worked there, I jumped a canopy loaded at 1.7:1. I also recently visited there, jumping my canopy, which I have over 1000 jumps on, loaded at 2.4:1. I was planning on returning for their annual Pig Roast, but may have to reconsider, due to the new policies. Nonetheless, I respect their decisions, and feel they have good reason for implementing them. Concerning the jumper who biffed in last year, he was not jumping a "small" canopy. He was jumping a Sabre 190, loaded a little over 1:1. It just goes to show you that someone can be seriously injured on any canopy, at any wingloading.

KU beats Marquette by 33!!! See ya on Monday night!

The big problem that I see with the MPAAD is that all of the rig manufaturers will have to modify their rigs in order to use this new AAD. This means cutting another window into the backpad for the MPAAD display, since it doesn't have an external display unit, like the CYPRES. It took many years, for the existing manufacturers to modify their rigs to accept CYPRES', when they hit the market, and that modification was much easier. Also, how many people are going to want to buy a new container in order to use this new AAD. CYPRES' have been proven to be a near-perfect design, and I think any new company will have a hard time competing. I think Airtec had the right idea by updating their CYPRES'. I have been waiting for a while to see when they would come out with a CYPRES II. Over the past 14 years, microprocessor technology and battery technology has improved drastically. Also, add to this the new generation of pond-swoopers, who don't want to ruin their expensive CYPRES when they get wet. I'm hoping to see a waterproof, smaller, lighter, more-compact CYPRES, with a longer battery life, at a lower cost. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I have owned 7 canopies with the Gelvenor fabric, and currently own 4. One of my Cobalts currently has over 1000 jumps and it still flies like the day it was new. The fabric still looks great, with no fading or "worn-out" appearance. I have seen people jumping both Cobalts and Diablos with well over 2000 jumps, and they still fly like new. I wouldn't take PD's claims with a grain of salt. It's no different than all of the TV commericals that say their tests show their products are the best. How is it that every laundry detergent commericial shows tests that their detergents clean better and protect colors than all of the other major brands? I think PD just wants to sell more canopies by saying that theirs last longer.

What's up Mike? It sounds like you had a blast in Padre. Hope to see you at Cross Keys soon. By the way, that picture of you headdown (the one you're using in your profile) looks familiar. Is that the one I shot at Quincy a couple years back?

Unfortunately, that won't work with the Conceptus switches. The adapter that your refering to allows you to hook T3(older canon connection) swicthes to N3(D30, D60, 10D) cameras. The Conceptus swicthes don't use a T3 connector, they use the phono plug connectors found on most Canon mid-range cameras(Rebel, Elan). Nonetheless, you should be able to cut the adapter in half and splice the N3 connector to your Conceptus switch, or to a 2.5mm female connector if you want to make an appropriate adapter. Word has it, though, that Conceptus will soon be offering their swicthes with an N3 connector.

I thought I would throw in my point of view of this situation. I had gone out to the landing area to watch the landings and assess the wind conditions(it was pretty bumpy). As I'm watching the first canopies land, I see two jumpers collide under canopy and imeediately go into a wrap/spin. In about the amount of time that I had to say, "Oh SH*T", I watched Matt cutaway. It looked like he cutaway about 500 feet and immediately pulled his reserve. His reserve opened just above treetop level, and then he immediately hooked it into the trees. His canopy was still in a turn as it disapperaed into the woods. I never saw the other jumper land. I immediatly jumped in the truck and was the first one on the scene. I was certain that there was going to be a seriously injured person. Much to my surprise, Matt was standing on the ground and completely calm. His first words were "I'm fine", and then he immediately asked how the other jumper was. Amazingly, the only visible injury to Matt was a scratch on his knee. He got out of his harness and then we tried to work his reserve off of the branch it was caught on, but stopped, so as not to inadvertantely rip it. We walked back out of the woods and drove back to the hangar. The rest of the story, Matt pretty much covered. The other jumper was more seriously injured, but still VERY lucky, nonetheless. He was very shaken up and went to the hospital to be checked out. This situation easily could have turned out A LOT worse, but fortunately luck was on everybody's side. It's impossible to say what the perfect way to handle this emergency would have been. Most of the time, I wouldn't recommend cutting away at 500 feet, but in this case, it looks like that Matt's instincts saved both jumpers lives. Just a reminder to everybody to keep their heads up in freefall and under canopy, and to avoid radical maneuvers in the landing pattern. A 720 degrees spiral can easily disorientate you and cause you to lose sight of other people. Be careful out there and stay safe.

For the most part it appears to be the same camera. The plastic body of the D60 has been replaced with a magnesium alloy body. Although the CMOS sensor appears to be the same, all of the reviews I've read show that the 10D produces sharper, clearer images, and handles low-light conditions better. Plus, the auto-focus has been dramatically improved, though this doesn't matter much for skydiving. The shutter release lag has been reduced from 240ms to 190ms and the viewfinder blackout has been cut from 300ms to 140ms. Also, the 10D supports FAT32, which means it can use compact flash cards larger than 2GB. All in all, it looks like a descent improvement over the D60 at a cheaper price. I definately know what my next new 'toy' will be.

I was just wondering what wide-angle lenses people are using on their VX2000 or GL1/2. I've been looking at the Century Optics lenses. The 0.55x looks great, but doesn't offer full-zoom capability. The 0.65x has full-zoom capability, but will probably be too narrow for my needs. If anyone is using any of these lenses, or any others, I would like to hear your feedback.

Although this looks like a descent camcorder for basic shooting, it lacks a lot of features. The resolution is fairly low, it lacks a memory stick, and it doesn't have a LANC port (which means no CamEye). Also, pretty much all of the features have been embedded into the menu-system, rather than seperate buttons on the camcorder itself, which means you'll have to open the LCD screen to adjust the settings. Nonetheless, if you plan on using it to just shoot some freinds in the air, it would probably work just fine. It looks like it will have a street price of about $500-$600. If you are looking for a higher-grade camcorder in the same price range, you might look around to see if you can find a new-in-box discontinued model (TRV30, TRV50) at a cheaper price. I know that Sears was recently selling the TRV30 for $799, which is a great deal, considering it costed about $2000 a year ago. Click below to read a review of the TRV19. http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/sony_dcrtrv19_fi_camcorder_review.htm

Cross Keys put on a great safety day. We had some terrific seminars from Glenn Bangs, Monkey Claw, Heath Richardson, Paul Joseph, and the Williamstown EMT Squad. On top of that, we had the best weather that we've had in 4 months here. Everybody took advantage of the good weather, keeping the Caravan flying full loads non-stop until sunset. Thanks to all of the speakers and to Skydive Cross Keys for a well-run safety day.

Earlier this summer, one of our videographers lost his Flat-top Pro, along with his PC9, on opening. The helmet went into the woods and after several days of searching, he was unable to find it. About 4 months later, one of the locals shows up with the muddy, battered helmet. Apparently, he was walking in the woods when he heard a beeping sound. He followed the beeping and found the helmet half-buried. Turns out that the battery on his Time-out audible was low and began beeping. Upon inspecting the helmet, it looked pretty bad. The camera was top-mounted with no protection. Hoping to recover the footage, we opened the camera and removed the tape and let both dry for several days. The footage from the tape was pretty incredible. The most incredible part was that after 'bouncing', the camera kept recording for 45 minutes until the tape ran out. The biggest shocker was that not only did the camera power up, but it worked flawlessly. It played and recorded just fine, and the the touchscreen still worked like new. Considering this camera went in at ~100mph, and then sat in the rain, snow, and freezing temperatures for 4 months, I couldn't believe the thing still worked fine. Needless to say, Sony camcorders rock!!!

Alright everybody. The forecast for Saturday calls for temperatures in the mid-50's, with blue skies and light winds. On top of that, we have USPA President, Glenn Bangs giving Saftey Day workshops. It's been a long winter, so come on out and get current again. See you all this weekend.

Javelin Odyssey w/ all the options H-mod Cobalt 85 PD106 reserve. Oh wait, I've already got two of those (plus another Odyssey with a Cobalt 105). I guess I'll have to start thinking up my dream woman instead. :)